Chaucer’s Tale of Sir Thopas: Prologue
WHEN said was this miracle, every manAs sober was, that wonder was to see,Till that our Host to japen he began,And then at erst he looked upon me,And saide thus; “What man art thou?” quoth he;“Thou lookest as thou wouldest find an hare,For ever on the ground I see thee stare.
“Approache near, and look up merrily.Now ware you, Sirs, and let this man have place.He in the waist is shapen as well as I;This were a puppet in an arm t’embraceFor any woman small and fair of face.He seemeth elvish by his countenance,For unto no wight doth he dalliance.
“Say now somewhat, since other folk have said;Tell us a tale of mirth, and that anon.”“Hoste,” quoth I, “be not evil apaid,For other tale certes can I none,Eut of a rhyme I learned yore agone.”“Yea, that is good,” quoth he; “now shall we hearSome dainty thing, me thinketh by thy cheer.”
Words in this poem
- quoth v. t.
- Said; spoke; uttered; -- used only in the first and third persons in the past tenses, and always followed by its nominative, the word or words said being the object; as, quoth I. quoth he. [AS.cweedhan, imp cwæedh, pl. cwædon; akin to OS. queedhan, OHG. quethan, quedan, Icel. kveedha, Goth. qiþan. sq. root22. Cf. Bequeath.]
- elvish a.
- Pertaining to elves; implike; mischievous; weird; also, vacant; absent in demeanor. See Elfish.
- wight n.
- A whit; a bit; a jot. [OE. wight, wiht, a wight, a whit, AS. wiht, wuht, a creature, a thing; skin to D. wicht a child, OS. & OHG. wiht a creature, thing, G. wicht a creature, Icel. v]
- dalliance n.
- The act of dallying, trifling, or fondling; interchange of caresses; wanton play. [From Dally.]
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- anon adv.
- Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
- certes adv.
- Certainly; in truth; verily. [F. certes, for à certes, fr. L. certus. See Certain.]
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- dainty n.
- Value; estimation; the gratification or pleasure taken in anything. [OE. deinie, dainte, deintie, deyntee, OF. deintié delicacy, orig., dignity, honor, fr. L. dignitas, fr. dignus worthy. See Deign, and cf. Dignity.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chaucer’s Tale of Sir Thopas: Prologue is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Canterbury Tales, Project Gutenberg ebook #2383; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Geoffrey Chaucer, Chaucer’s Tale of Sir Thopas: Prologue, in The Canterbury Tales (1400), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2383, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/canterbury-tales/chaucer-s-tale-of-sir-thopas-prologue.html, id L15871.
Form and metre
Chaucer’s Tale of Sir Thopas: Prologue is 21 lines in 3 stanzas of 7 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 87% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 14% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABBCC manA · seeB · beganA · meB · heB · hareC · stareC
- 2 -A-AA-- merrily · placeA · i · t'embraceA · faceA · countenance · dalliance
- 3 ABA-BCC saidA · anonB · apaidA · none · agoneB · hearC · cheerC
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| WHEN said was this miracle, every man | 10 | ····/˘˘/˘· |
| As sober was, that wonder was to see, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Till that our Host to japen he began, | 10 | ··/·····˘/ |
| And then at erst he looked upon me, | 10 | ······˘··· |
| And saide thus; “What man art thou?” quoth he; | 10 | ·········· |
| “Thou lookest as thou wouldest find an hare, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| For ever on the ground I see thee stare. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| “Approache near, and look up merrily. | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| Now ware you, Sirs, and let this man have place. | 10 | ·········· |
| He in the waist is shapen as well as I; | 11 | ··········· |
| This were a puppet in an arm t’embrace | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| For any woman small and fair of face. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| He seemeth elvish by his countenance, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| For unto no wight doth he dalliance. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| “Say now somewhat, since other folk have said; | 10 | ··//·/˘··· |
| Tell us a tale of mirth, and that anon.” | 10 | ········˘/ |
| “Hoste,” quoth I, “be not evil apaid, | 9 | ·····/˘˘/ |
| For other tale certes can I none, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| Eut of a rhyme I learned yore agone.” | 10 | ······˘·˘/ |
| “Yea, that is good,” quoth he; “now shall we hear | 10 | ·········· |
| Some dainty thing, me thinketh by thy cheer.” | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
Notes from the edition 3
Glosses from the Purves edition of 1870, printed beside the lines (Project Gutenberg #2383).
- Stanza 1 serious · talk lightly · for the first time
- Stanza 2 surly, morose
- Stanza 3 dissatisfied · know · long · expression, mien
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